4 70 MITCH ILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORJC. 



RAJA. RAW 



Generic character. 



Mo u (h 'situated beneath the head, transverse, beset with teeth. Spi- 

 racles beneath, five on each side of the neck. Body in most species sub- 

 rhomboidal. 



1. Raja torpedo. (The numb-fish or era mp-Jish.) I place the torpedo 

 among our native fishes on the authority of several persons whom I 

 have questioned on the subject. This fish is sometimes taken with the 

 hook and line on Saint George's Bank, and in the ocean near Block- 

 Island, and to the southward of it. The occurrence is so rare, that but 

 few are caught in the course of a season. These, however, make 

 impressions strong enough to be well remembered. I showed to two 

 intelligent fishermen, who had drawn them from the bottom alive, the 

 figure of the animal in Bloch's Ichthyology, and they were instantly 

 struck with the likeness. They said that on loosening the hook from 

 the creature's mouth, the arm of the captor was frequently benumbed 

 for five or six minutes, quite to the trunk. And when a knife was em- 

 ployed to slay the torpedo, the torpor occasioned by the touch of it 

 was great enough to make the instrument fall from the grasp of the 

 fingers. The numbness has been known to continue a whole afternoon, 

 especially in the shoulder. 



Evidence to the same point has been collected by Dr. Wiley, a re- 

 sident on Block-Island, as contained in his letter to Dr. S. Akerly, of 

 November 28, 1814 : " You request me, dear sir, to give you what in- 

 formation I possess respecting the electric fish said to inhabit our waters. 

 This fish I have never been fortunate enough to see ; and am unac- 

 quainted with it, otherwise than by the reports of fishermen. From 



